The Power of Godly Encouragement - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2018)

First Samuel 23 beginning in verse 15. David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horace. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horace and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, do not fear for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you.

You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this. Covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horace, and Jonathan as we continue to steam in Second Chronicles 15.7, of taking courage and not letting your hands be weak, I want us to see here that there is something to explore concerning the believer, and another threat that can come to their hands, and another source of strength that they can draw from. Now, this theme, we've been unpacking it in the past two messages concerning specific type of leaven, and even, the supremacy of Christ that can be our source of strength.

We have three messages left, and I really want to dedicate tonight and tomorrow morning to really dig again to certain text, essential text, I believe, that will be of great value to us. Not saying that this text is not of great value, but I want to treat this morning's message more as a devotional. How so? I want us to really just focus in on this main point, and I want us to leave with one central application. One main text and one central application.

So here we see David, a snapshot of his life, and this is of great value to us. He was not a perfect man, but it is absolutely amazing how much attention the Bible gives this one individual. And there are many things that describe his life, but there is really one title, one title that describes his profile as a character in this drawer. And we know him as what? The man after God's heart, according to Acts thirteen twenty two.

Now that is not a title that David gave himself. Nor was that something that other people pinned on him. That was the testimony that God spoke over David's life from himself. And you would think, would you not, that if there was a man after God's heart, in which God himself testified that of somebody, that the description of his life will perhaps read problem free. Right?

Oh, no, no, no, no trials, no testing. Maybe a little bit bumpy roads, but generally a smooth ride from glory to glory. No problems in between. Or you would think surely, surely a man after God's own heart, surely a woman after God's own heart would not have enemies. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Would not have people to attack them. Would not have people slander their reputation. Surely, if there was a passionate and pure vessel such as David, the only people that would surround him are supportive people, encouragers, Not necessarily so. And this short text that we just read this morning proves something about the reality of a person who has set their heart to seek God's own heart, and it is this, that just because you have determined with your life that for the rest of your days you will live to know him and make him known, does not mean that you are exempt from pain, problems, and persecution. That is not true at all.

In fact, if that's the case, you are a magnet for those things more than ever before. Because here we see a man, David, whose heart has been postured to seek after God's own heart. Yet, at the same time, here is another man pursuing this man's life. So, here's David chasing after God in obedience, and here's Saul chasing after David to try to take him out of the face of the earth. And so you and I immediately have to dismiss this concept, this fantasy idea that if I'm going to set myself on God, that all these things are going to come, and there is going to be no issues.

Oh, no. You're dead wrong. I'm dead wrong to believe that. What we see here in David's life, in this snapshot, is beyond just general trial. This is deeply personal.

Deeply personal. What do we see here? We see a man's father-in-law who recruited him in the army in the first place, who showed some kind of affection towards him, now switch and is hunting for him like a hunter and a deer. And here we see this man, family, family, running away for his life, away from the comfort of his home, away from familiarity, going from place to place to place, living with anxiety because he doesn't know if I stay in this village, if the people will give me up to Saul. He doesn't know who's for him or who's against him.

And he's living like this. And we see here that David, all he did was obey God to get to this point. All he did was walk for God and and did everything that God had called him to do. And unfortunately, there was a man in his life that had the unfortunate blend of the wrong ingredients, jealousy and authority. So this young man David is left to one option.

I got to run. I got to go. And this is what we understand. If you want to be a person after God's own heart, you need to realize that you may expect, it will be very likely that you will run into circumstances that are outside of yourself and that are outside of your control. I mean, David could not do anything to change this situation.

That's what we're talking about here. See, that's the problem with jealousy. David was just walking what God had called him to walk in, and here's a man that wants to take him out for it. And so, what was David supposed to do? Not obey God so that this person's jealousy would subside?

And there are situations in your life and mine in which they are totally out of your control. You can't do anything about it. And so all you're left is to be just this dartboard in which you receive pain, and you receive all this affliction, and you're like, I'm just trying to live for him. And David here shows us in this moment, in light of the text that we just read, that even a man after God's heart, even that kind of a person, as spiritual as he is, as mature in God as he is, even a person like that, his hands can get weak at times. He can sense depression.

He can sense discouragement. Even this person in which heaven declares, he's after my own heart, God says, can sense this desire to give up. And the package of pain looks different for every single individual. The package of pain looks different for every individual. For David, it was his father-in-law wanting to kill him.

Anybody else in here have that? No? Didn't think so. But I'm sure that if we here were to turn this session into something in which we had every person share a past experience that caused them great grief, or that you are something, maybe even now, experiencing something that is causing you great pain, there would be a 100 different circumstances from a 100 different people. Yet, all of those things have the same consequence and result.

They make you feel weak. I'm talking about believers here. I'm talking about believers that want to live for God and are sensing some kind of weight that is making them feel like it's better maybe if I just slow down and press the eject button. And just go on cruise control and just float in my faith. And wherever things go let them go.

So we see here that there is a source of encouragement. Oftentimes we use these conferences to do what? What do we pray for these conferences? Oh God, save those people that don't know you that are coming to this conference, right? Oh God, those who are not walking wholeheartedly with you.

Oh, the backslidden, bring the backslidden. But even coming to this conference there is something that come to my heart. Those are great things to pray for, and God can do those things. But what about the faithful who just need a little bit more strength? I'm talking I'm not talking about those that, you know, they wait for conference so that they can rededicate their life again, and rededicate their life again.

I'm talking about those who have been faithful throughout the entire year. Those who have been walking and living for him every other weekend except this weekend and come to this weekend. You have to realize that even the spiritual need encouragement. You and I have to realize that even the faithful, those that seem like everything is going right, those that seem the most consistent, those that seem like the lamp of their devotion does not burn out. Even those people need a whisper of encouragement.

What happens here in David's life? What do we see here in this text? We see something. That the source of his strength came from a man named Jonathan. Saul's son.

And David's strength came from a man who knew how to encourage. And the rest of the rest of this message can really be what we are familiar with. Surround yourself with the right people in life. Get the godly people around you. That's that's totally true.

Listen, if you hang around with people that don't care about the things of God, do not expect to be strengthened in God when things go rough in your life. Just plain and simple. And that's why you and I, if you know any spiritual person in your life that loves Jesus with all their heart, I would encourage you, and I do this myself, the moment you smell somebody with the fragrance of Jesus upon them, cling to them. Cling to them. They are rare these days.

They are so rare these days. And so when you see someone that you know has received a touch from the Lord, and you know that spends time with the Lord, Yoke yourself to such a person. We know this bad company corrupts good behavior. And some of you, we've had this time together where we talked about how the wrong people can destroy you. And we talked about a certain man in second Samuel 13, actually David's relative, Amnon.

Remember Amnon? In second Samuel 13, this man was burning with lust and burning with temptation for his sister, his half sister. And everything turned around for Amnon's life because of one foolish decision. He had the wrong buddy in his circle. Let me just read this to you for the sake of refreshment.

In second Samuel 13, the turning point in Amnon's life, and perhaps somebody needs to hear this this morning. The literal turning point, the thing that made this temptation internal into a manifest action was five words here in verse three, but Amnon had a friend. That was the pivot moment, but Amnon had a friend. And that is the sad commentary of so many young people in this life. Never mind young people, even old.

The wrong person in their life has literally dragged them down into places that they never thought they would even go. And so here's maybe an application that wasn't planned for this morning, but maybe somebody needs to know it. Here's one application. The best thing that you can probably do this conference is go through your contacts list, swipe left, and press that red button. That's probably the best thing that you can do leaving this conference.

Never mind the altar call and crying. Go through your phone and get rid of those people, the Jonadabs that do not help you fight your temptation, but in fact, fuel it. Besides the point, we see here that Jonathan. Jonathan comes in. And instead of making this short message this morning about how we need to find Jonathans and we need to ask God for Jonathans, and we can do that and we should do that.

Instead, let's flip the table and let's make this about you and I asking God to make us like a Jonathan. To make us like a Jonathan, not looking for a Jonathan. God will bring those people. But listen, if we all here choose this morning to be people who know how to water other people's gardens, your garden also will be watered. If everybody in here decides to imitate what's being taught here, surely you will find somebody else pouring into you eventually.

And so let's just let's just focus in on this. Lord, yes, I need that Jonathan in my life. I need those kind of people, and if I find them, help me cling to them. But, Lord, help me be that person. Help me be that source of encouragement.

Help me be that Barnabas. So what does he do? He comes here. And if there's a ministry that we need today, because I know in here there are some people that really wanna be used by the Lord. It's your heart's cry.

I want God to use me. I want I want to be able to be a blessing to the people of God. And I can say this in light of the scriptures that if there is something that you should really consider, let it be this, to be an intentional encourager. It was something in need of David's life. It was something that was of great need in the early church.

I mean, there's a there's a man in the book of Acts whose name was Barnabas, and we know what that name means, son of encouragement, but that's not his name. If you read the acts the the book of acts in chapter four at the end, his name was Joseph. But this guy was so encouraging that they thought to themselves, if encouragement had a son, it has to be Barnabas. Son of encouragement. This guy just oozes out building people up.

And listen. This is a calling and this is a ministry. I wanna encourage you with this. No pun intended there. I want to encourage you with this, that if there's a ministry that you are looking for, let it be the ministry of encouragement.

And here's the cool part. You don't have to pray and ask God if you need to walk in that. You don't need a confirmation from the Lord to know, Lord, do you want me to be in the ministry of encouragement? One verse already gives it to you. First Thessalonians five eleven.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. There's your confirmation. There's the voice from heaven. The value of godly encouragement, it is unbelievable how a few simple words, if they are right and they are timely, can almost give this effect of like a jump start to somebody's devotion to the Lord, and somebody's persistence, and somebody's service for the kingdom of God. It is absolutely amazing how just a few words can almost jolt a person back into reality.

When encouragement is given from a sincere heart of love like Jonathan to David, the lies that we hear in our head, the discouragement that seems to be like wave after wave in our soul. The voices around us that are falsely accusing and slandering and discouraging us. The temptations that seem to be threatening our devotion to the Lord, and even the doubts that seem to cloud our judgment seem to, in a moment, all disappear when the right words come from the right source. Some of you even know exactly what I'm talking about. Encouragement is fuel for perseverance.

What wind does to a sail is what encouragement does to the soul. And we cannot afford to withhold this from people because there are some that just need that jolt, and you could be the very source of it. I've seen someone's day. I've seen somebody's day experience a turning point simply from an encouraging text message. And I've seen countless times people unburdening themselves and pouring out their hearts of all the things that they're experiencing in life.

And in that same conversation, leave that lunch meeting beaming with hope, simply because from another person they were hearing about the goodness and faithfulness of God in their context. I've seen people who were so cold, so discouraged, almost blind in their perspective and things melt back into reality simply because of just the presence of a godly person. And you may not be like this David fellow in the sense of you have this grand calling that is so public, this leadership role. You may not have that, but you can be a Jonathan to a David. You can be that voice.

Listen. This is something so amazing here. The bible wants to show us that the fact that David could go on was because there was a Jonathan whispering in his ear. And so let's look what the bible says about encouragement and what it looks like in light of this text. And we see here in verse 15 that Jonathan comes, And now we see here that he does specific things to strengthen his hand.

Jonathan, Saul's son, in verse 16, rose and went to David at Horace and strengthened his hand in God. We're not talking about just some psychological philosophical thing. He strengthened his hand in God. And so true encouragement always points to God. It's always saturated with godly truths.

It's not about just whipping up somebody's self esteem or self confidence. No. It's pointing them to the true source. And Jonathan, Saul's son, comes. And what does he do?

Verse 17. And he said to him, do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. The first thing we have to understand that encouragement is intentional. Encouragement is intentional.

Do you see here that it's Jonathan who rose up and Jonathan who went to David in the wilderness? Oftentimes, our encouragement seems to be more spontaneous than anything. Oftentimes, it's in moments in which we are being blessed by somebody do we, in return, encourage them. And that's not wrong. That's great.

That's a wonderful thing. But you know what the scriptures tell us here? That encouragement needs to be just as much calculated and a thought out action in advance. You say that that doesn't feel natural. That doesn't feel real.

Oh, it's very real. We're not talking about flattery here. We're not talking about this fake thing. No. We're talking about something true and deep, but something that also needs to be thoughtful and calculated.

A person who wants to be a source of encouragement needs to be a person that knows how to be aware of other people's circumstances. They are observant. Their eyes are off of themselves. They know how to pick up on things. They know how to see things in others.

They are aware that perhaps somebody needs a boost, and they haven't received it. And so think about it this way. Think about it this way. You perhaps know somebody that tirelessly gives themselves to serving in your local church. Has it ever dawned on you that perhaps this person needs a word of encouragement?

Has it ever and and we don't we just assume that people don't need encouragement anymore. We just assume that people they look fine, and you have no idea. I guarantee you. Some of you in here came in with a smile. Some of you in came in here and you even sang with your voices, but you're going through something.

You're going back to a reality that you probably don't even wanna face. Brothers and sisters, this is true on a weekly basis. And so perhaps there's this person that's giving themselves and you see them week by week. Has it ever has it ever dawned on you? You know what?

Maybe I should just tell them how much I appreciate them and what they do for this church. Do you have the ears to hear in conversation when somebody is expressing, even just giving just giving subtle hints of something that they're experiencing that's causing them pain or grief, but they're not giving is there a discernment to be able to say, you know what? I'm gonna make a mental note that sometime this week, I'm gonna message this brother. I'm gonna I'm gonna call this sister later on this week, and I'm just gonna pray for them. Sometimes we even assume that the most spiritual people, as I said earlier, don't need encouragement.

Oh, oh, oh. You have no idea what you can do for those that are leading over your life if you can just be encouraging. Some of you in here, and I can say this, this is not a local church setting, so you guys represent different churches and different ministries, so I can say this, you have no idea. If you have a faithful minister over your life, you have no clue what they're facing. And you know what they're doing because they're faithful?

They're putting a smile on their face every week as they come in because they know that they're there to pour into you and to serve you. Listen. There's enough garbage and complaining and murmuring in the world. Let it not be found in the local church, please. Oh, please.

If there's a well of encouragement, a well of life that we can find, could it be in the local church, please? You have no idea what you can do to a person's leadership if you just know how to lift them up. It's intentional. Encouragement is intentional. It's not accidental.

It's not always spontaneous. And now let's explore the ingredients of encouragement here in verse 17. He strengthened his hand in God, and so he does three things here, I believe. He says, Do not fear for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. Number one, he reminds David of God's present protection.

He reminds David of the reality of God in the now. See, what discouragement does, one of the reasons why we feel discouraged is because we often feel like whatever we're experiencing, we're experiencing it apart from God's knowledge and presence. Many people feel discouraged. The believer feels discouraged because he does not sense God in the moment. Does he not?

Does she not? And what a true encourager does, comes alongside this person and is able to lift their head to see that God is in it. That God is here. That God sees what you're experiencing. That God hears the pain from your heart.

That's what a true encourager does. He's able to lift that person's head and bring those eyes back to him. John says, I don't want you to fear. Why? Because God will protect you.

God is here for you. God is on your side, though it seems like everybody else is against you. Find it within yourself to know how to remind people of the faithfulness of God. I wonder, I don't want to read too much into this text. I really don't want to do that.

But it's just a thought, maybe something that you can talk over lunch. It doesn't say here, so I can't say anything. But I wonder what Jonathan might be experiencing. This is his his dad trying to kill his best friend. That's messed up.

You know what's amazing about encouragement? You don't have to feel encouraged to encourage. You don't have to get in the right place and all giddy now. That's the beauty of this, that you see it beyond yourself. It's not about you.

It's it's about that person. And even if you're going through hell, you still find it necessary within yourself to lift up other people. That's powerful. He reminds him of God in the now, but he also reminds him of God's past promises. You shall be king over Israel.

So oftentimes people feel discouraged. Why? Not only because they don't see God in the present, but they forget what God has done in the past. That they are so overwhelmed with what's going on right now that they fail and they forget what God has promised them and spoken to them and did in and through them, even sometimes one week ago. It's amazing what this flesh can do.

It's amazing how in one moment we can feel so charged for the Lord, and all it takes is a morning where you don't feel God, and that's it. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's been twenty four hours, and you're just having a bad day. But an encourager, an encourager knows how to remind his brother and sister what God has done in and through them in the past. Yes, through the unchangeable truths of the Scripture, the faithfulness and the character of God that is immutable.

Yes. But also in that person's life, this is so personal in David's life. David, do you remember what God has spoken over your life? Do you not remember when he sent Samuel to tell you what you would do for the rest of your days? Do not give up now.

Don't let up now. You and I have to be able to do that. And I'm sure they shared these things together. I'm sure there was conversation about these things in the past. And a true encourager can take those things and bring them back to the present and say, Remember when we saw this?

Remember when we saw this in service together? Remember when God spoke this? Remember that time of prayer where God was more real than you and I in that room? Do you remember? Brother, I'm here to tell you that though you're not seeing fruit in your life, I know that God has something for you.

I've seen God speak through you. I've seen God do something through you. Don't give up. Don't let up. And we see here that he does something else.

He assures him not only of God's faithfulness in the present, not only of God's faithfulness in the past, but he says here, I shall be next to you. And I shall be next to you. I find this fascinating because Jonathan knew the value of affirming somebody else of their faithfulness to them. And And what's amazing is that they already had made a covenant together in first Samuel 18. They already declared that they would knit their souls to one another.

But you know what Jonathan knew? I'm amazed that David needs to be reminded that I love him. Yeah, we we made a vow together. We had those emotional moments together, but again, discouragement often makes a person feel lonely even though they're surrounded by so many people. I hate this flesh.

I hate those feelings, but it's just truth. We got to deal with them, and the Bible gives us prescription. And Jonathan comes and says, Listen, I know we've made a covenant before, but look what he does in verse 18. The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Let me come and just reaffirm to you that I am with you.

I'm praying for you And that whatever God has called you to do in this life, however I can contribute to that, I wanna contribute to that. Do you know what Jonathan names means here? Jonathan's name means Yahweh has given or in other words God's gift And that he was to David. God's gift. Listen to what David said in Psalms 142 verse seven.

The righteous will surround me. For you, he's speaking to the Lord, for you will deal bountifully with me. David knew that the extension of God's love to him was when God brought the right people to surround him. You can be the extension of God's gift to somebody's life simply by being intentional in your encouragement, simply by being aware and sensitive enough to say, I'm going to pour into somebody. If there is one application, let it be this, what would it look like if every single person here, for the rest of their Christian walk, would daily wake up and ask the Lord, Lord, who can I encourage today?

Lord, is there somebody that you want me to message today? Lord, is there someone that I've been aware unaware of that is going through something? Lord, speak to my heart and give me the words to say, you're saying every day? Really? I didn't say it.

The Bible says in Hebrews three thirteen, But exhort one another every day. As long as it's called today. You know why every day? Because every single day the deceitfulness of sin comes to tempt us. And I heard one teacher said it this way, do you know how long it takes for your heart to get hardened by the deceitfulness of sin?

One day. Twenty four hours. He says, exhort one another every single day as long as it's called today that your hearts may not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So that tells me all it takes is twenty four hours for somebody to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, which requires daily encouragement. Now please don't do this in a superficial way.

Oh, no. It's a timely word that is of benefit. But to develop that relationship with the Lord saying, Lord, let me be a gift, an extension of your mercy and grace to someone else. Who is it that you want me to pour into? And Lord, let me see beyond what I see here even.

Let me see beyond the facade in the face. Let me see beyond all that. And Lord, speak to me so that I can pour into somebody else. The ministry of encouragement concerning our hands being strengthened is of utmost importance. And no matter what you do in this life, whether it's full time ministry or not, can I tell you something?

We need encouragers today. We are so good at criticizing. We're really good at that. A lot of people have that gift. But where are those who are able, in the spirit, be able to touch a heart with the right words because they have been walking with the Lord even throughout the day?

I pray that you would leave this place, and that you would give your energy to such a ministry, and that you would be a Jonathan to somebody else. You would be a Barnabas to a Paul. So this morning in this short devotional message, why don't we put it into practice? Why don't we start now? Remember, it's not always spontaneous.

It's intentional, is it not? This is how I want us to end as we as we leave. Find somebody to pray with, even now, and watch what will happen to your heart as you leave this place and go to lunch. You can tell them what you're going through, you cannot, but just take the time to pray with one person. And just watch what will happen to your soul.

Watch what will happen to your energy. Watch what will happen to the cloudiness in your mind. Let's pray. Father, in this moment, we ask that we would be reminded of the blessing of encouragement. Help us realize that we can strengthen one another by simple phrase, by simple message, by simple whisper.

Let it come from a sincere and pure heart. There's nothing like a word that comes from a heart that does not truly love. There's nothing like a word that comes from a person that's inwardly jealous and envious. It's polluted. So, Lord, before we even give a word of encouragement, whether now or for the future, bring us to a place where we actually love others.

Let us be like Jonathan that celebrates the call of other people and so treasures your glory that when they see a person that's living for God wounded, they will do anything they need to do to bring them up again. We pray these things in Jesus' name. You know what I so love about this text that we read this morning? Because when you read first Samuel, especially in this latter portion, all you see is David flee, David fled, David this, David that. He escaped, he escaped.

And all for a sudden, it's just like this breath of fresh air with Jonathan coming into these few few verses. I think to myself, he's in the background. Jonathan's in the background. You just see David and then you just get this little peek into the back of the curtain. You see Jonathan there.

He says he just gives encouragement. He goes home and David moves on. I think to myself, listen, you may never preach a sermon in your life. Nobody may ever know your name. You may never do a missions trip.

You You may never be invited to a conference. You may never do this or do that where people see you like how people saw David. But I really wonder even these mighty men that we read of in church history, the Spurgeons and the Wesleys and the Tozers and the Ravenhills and all these men. And I wonder who is that person in the background in their lives? Who is the person that knew how to write to them and and call them?

They themselves felt like, you know, I don't know if I should keep going. I don't know if I should, I don't know if I'm adequate for this. I don't know all these different things that are going through their mind. You may never do those things, but you can be that voice. You can be that.

And if you love the glory of God, if you care for his kingdom enough, you would take that ministry with so much joy and delight. Not just for leaders, not just just in all senses, but I just want to make that case in David's life. Oh, if you remember one thing in light of this whole theme of our hands being strengthened in God, that he needs you to do it to some degree. That he wants to use you to strengthen his son, his daughter. I pray that you would say, oh God, help me be an encourager.

Show me what that looks like. Show me what that looks like. Well, I want to do it. I want to be what David wrote about. God, you've dealt righteously and rightly with me because you've surrounded the righteous around me.

Would you stand with me?